Pittsburgh Pirates: Three Goals for September

Playing for the future

This will be prefaced by saying there are not a ton of truly ‘young’ options for the Pittsburgh Pirates to play in September. A lot of it has been hashed out repeatedly here, on Twitter and on other sites.

Due to the Travis Swaggerty injury that prevent him from reaching the Majors this season and an injury to Oneil Cruz that very likely could have done the same thing, none of the organization’s top hitting prospects will be around to get a look this September. That said, there are still other hitters who should get an extended look in an effort to attempt to figure out what they’re long-term future is with the Pirates.

Now that he is back in the Majors utility man Hoy Park should be in the lineup on a daily basis or close to it to see if he can hit his way into being a key utility man moving forward. The same goes for Michael Chavis, who could potentially hit his way into an every day role, when he returns from the injured list.

Another player who the Pittsburgh Pirates should attempt to get a look at in September is Cole Tucker. The former first-round pick has struggled mightily in his MLB career and now is the time to determine if Tucker will be around after this season.

Yoshi Tsutsugo is another player who the Pirates need to be getting a long look at this month. Since joining the Pirates Tsutsugo has hit for a .290/.343/.903 slash line with 5 home runs, 2 doubles and a triple in 35 plate appearances. Could Tsutsugo hit his way into being a player the Pirates look to re-sign this offseason? That question could be answered this month.